I am trying to make a simple jigsaw puzzle (8 pieces) and I have the puzzle laid out in Vcarve with each piece separated and a profile cut around each piece set to cut on the line using .125 inch bit in quarter inch stock
The results are not as good as I had hoped, Sure areas fit together very nicely and others areas have fairly large gaps
When I tried to do the profile cuts as outside the line cuts it was even worse.
It appears that the largest errors are in the portions of the puzzle with the highest curvature, so it may be related to bit size.
There must be some technique I am missing. Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated.
are you sure your cutting outside the line and not on it?
Treat the parts like an inlay…I watched a video about removing the sharp corners…forgot where. Heading out to dinner now, I’ll find it when I get home. That should make the pieces fit together better with the bit you are using…whatever it is.
I did the profile cut “On the line”, an outside cut looked even worse.
hmmm outside should do it. leaving the exact measurements. on the line would make them to small by half your bit size
The “on the line” profile cut is perfect except for the high curvature portions The outside cut did not fit at all.
This is the “On Line” cut
that’s odd, but i never use vcarve so i’m not the best to advise. but you may want to try to svg the file and try it in easel and see what happens. also maybe a 1/16 or 1/32 bit may do better
You’re not going to cut piece by piece. After finish drawing close vectors, use .03 fishtail, cut “ON” on the lines by selecting all vectors. See what happens.
Another word, pieces suppose to be joint together on drawing, not separated.
Can you post that .crv file.?
It seems to me that if I leave the pieces together that would be worse since the pieces would then be bigger or smaller by half the bit diameter everywhere. But I have not tied to cut it that way so I am only guessing.
Here it is, there are two layers one with the broken apart pieces and one with it all together,
puzzle.crv (526 KB)
This is really puzzle, lets work on it.
This separated pieces are not matching to each other. Do you have uncut drawing.
Yes the uncut version is on a separate layer
This is what I did with 0.03" bit-Outside cut. Seems better (On screen)
So do you think the error is because of bit size (.125 vs .03) size or outside vs on line cutting.
I was really hoping to avoid using a small 1/32 bit, It will take forever to cut and I am sure I will break some bits on the way.
I think so, Because bit have turning radius, bigger the bit, bigger the radius. So if I’m doing this, I do it on .19 maple and run 25 ipm on 4 or 5 pass. Don’t be afraid breaking that bit. It is like a razor blade, only problem is starts after .2 dept.
part of the problem is the bit but the real problem is the design itself. there are sharp internal corners which are impossible to cut with a round bit
the solution is to either change the design or try using the inlay feature of vcarve
you shouldnt have a problem using a 1/16" bit, here is what the tool path will look like with a 1/16" bit and male inlay toolpath
as you can see it automatically adjust the sharp inside corner of one piece to fit in the sharp outside corner of the mating piece.
ahhh scratch the male inlay thing it wont work either. forgot that it will also round outside corners which will lead to this
